Pillows



March 17, 1964 w. F. MILTON ETAL 3,124,812

PILLOWS 'Filed July 3, 1962 IN VENTOES' WW/I'am Frank M/hon Har vey Brackensfiaw United States Patent 3,124,812 PILLOWS William Frank Milton and Harvey Brockenshaw, Wellington, Somerset, England, assignors to Price Brothers and Co. Limited Filed July 3, 1962, Ser. No. 207,295 2 Claims. (Cl. -338) The present invention relates to pillows and more particularly to a pillow for use in cots and in particular for use with very young children.

In the case of very young children there is considerable danger of the child being smothered by virtue of it turning on its face so that its nose and mouth become pressed against the pillow. With the normal type of pillow this is frequently suflicient to cause suffocation.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pillow suitable for a childs cot in which this danger is substantially eliminated.

According to the present invention there is provided a pillow comprising a body formed of polyether or other synthetic foamed plastic which is provided on one or both faces thereof with at least one recess extending across the face at least from the middle thereof to run out at an edge surface of the body.

Conveniently the pillow may take the form of the normal rectangular shape having bevelled edges and is contained in an outer cotton or other porous case. The plastic foam pillow has along its entire length and substantially along its centre line a deep wide groove of flat U section on each face. The two grooves are inter connected by a plurality of holes cut or otherwise formed through the pillow.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in Which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a pillow according to the invention, and

FIGURE 2 is a section taken along the line IIII of FIGURE 1 and drawn to an enlarged scale.

As shown in the drawings, the pillow is formed of a rectangular shaped body 1 of polyether or other synthetic foamed plastic, the longitudinal edges of which are bevelled as at 2. Extending longitudinally of the respective opposed faces of the body and substantially centrally thereof is a recess or groove 3 of flat U cross section, the width of the groove being of the order of 30% of the width of the body and the depth of the groove approximately 25% of the thickness of the body. The two grooves 3 extend the full length of the body 1 to run out at the ends thereof and are connected by a plurality of holes 4 cut or otherwise formed in the body portion 5 3,124,812 Patented Mar. 17, 1964 lying between the bottoms of the grooves, the holes 4 being spaced lengthwise of the grooves. In this manner provision is made for the free circulation of air from one groove to the other.

In use, the pillow is contained in a removable outer cover of cotton or similar textile material and as shown in broken line at 6 in FIGURE 2 the outer cover should be of dimensions such that in the normal unstressed condition of the body 1, the cover is taut across the mouth of each of the grooves 3, thereby giving the appearance of a normal pillow.

It will be apparent that with the construction of pillow described, should a child turn so that its mouth and nose are pressed against the pillow, the mouth and/or nose will normally lie in the uppermost groove of the pillow and air will freely circulate in the groove and through the textile cover to allow the child to continue breathing normally. Furthermore and by virtue of the foamed material from which the body 1 is formed, air can also be drawn freely through the porous structure provided thereby.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the above described embodiment thereof and that the body may be of other shapes and have other groove arrangements provided that the groove or grooves extend at least from the middle of the respective face of the body to run out at one edge thereof.

What we claim is:

1. A pillow comprising in combination a unitary elongated rectangular body forrned of a synthetic foamed plastic and having upper and lower longitudinal faces, a recess formed centrally in each of said faces of the body and extending longitudinally thereof from one end to the other, a plurality of apertures formed to extend through the body to communicate the recesses one with the other and spaced lengthwise of the said recesses and an outer covering of a freely porous material enclosing said body and lying taut across the recesses to form therewith enclosed air channels extending longitudinally of each face of the pillow.

2. A pillow as claimed in claim 1 in which each of the said recesses is of flat U cross section having a width of the order of 30% of the width of the body and a depth of approximately 25% of the thickness of the body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,385,355 Banks July 26, 1921 1,861,668 Tenney June 7, 1932 1,973,240 Werness et al. Sept. 11, 1934 3,042,938 Lawson July 10, 1962 

1. A PILLOW COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A UNITARY ELONGATED RECTANGULAR BODY FORMED OF A SYNTHETIC FOAMED PLASTIC AND HAVING UPPER AND LOWER LONGITUDINAL FACES, A RECESS FORMED CENTRALLY IN EACH OF SAID FACES OF THE BODY AND EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF FROM ONE END TO THE OTHER, A PLURALITY OF APERTURES FORMED TO EXTEND THROUGH THE BODY TO COMMUNICATE THE RECESSES ONE WITH THE OTHER AND SPACED LENGTHWISE OF THE SAID RECESSES AND AN OUTER COVERING OF A FREELY POROUS MATERIAL ENCLOSING SAID BODY AND LYING TAUT ACROSS THE RECESSES TO FORM THEREWITH ENCLOSED AIR CHANNELS EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF EACH FACE OF THE PILLOW. 